Middletown woman wins Mega Millions

MIDDLETOWN >> A city woman has won $1 million by playing the Connecticut Lottery's Mega Millions "Quick Pick" game, officials announced this week.

Karol Thompson bought the winning ticket for the April 26 drawing from the Berlin Convenience and Deli store in East Berlin. By matching five numbers, 17-42-49-54-55, Thompson became the first Mega Millions winner of the year, lottery officials said.

Because Thompson added the Megaplier feature to her Mega Millions ticket for an extra cost of $1, her $250,000 prize was automatically multiplied by four, totaling $1 million, officials said.

Overall odds of winning a Mega Millions prize are one in 39.9, while odds of winning the jackpot are one in 175,711,536 million, according to the Connecticut Lottery.

Thompson became the second resident to cash in big from the lottery in recent months, joining Greg and Glenda Hilt, a Middletown couple that won the Classic Lotto jackpot for $3.8 million in mid-February.

The win was beneficial to the convenience store and deli as well as it sold its second winning ticket in just four months. The store will receive a $2,500 bonus from the Connecticut Lottery.

"I guess we're on a roll," said store owner Naeem Uddin in a statement. "We'll just have to sell another million dollar ticket - maybe next time a Lotto jackpot!"

Officials said Thompson accepted her prize check at the lottery's headquarters in Rocky Hill for $683,000, the value of the prize after taxes.